Largest drone attack of war hits Moscow region, Russian officials say

At least three people have been killed in the Moscow region, in what appears to be the largest drone attack on the Russian capital Ukraine has launched so far during the war.

A further 18 people, including three children, were injured, Russian media reports citing health officials.

Regional Governor Andrei Vorobyev says the casualties were in the towns of Vidnoye and Domodedovo, just outside the capital, and included a 50-year-old man who died in hospital.

State news agency Tass reports that 91 of the 337 drones were shot down over the region.

Vorobyev said two people were in a serious condition in hospital in Domodedovo: a 43-year-old woman who had suffered injuries to her torso including intestinal damage, and a 44-year-old man who had been wounded in the torso, shoulder and shin.

He said two of the people killed had both died as they began their shift at a food company.

Domodedovo official Evgeniya Khrustaleva later confirmed a third person had died.

The company told Tass the two had died after debris hit its distribution centre. More than 40 cars were also damaged in the incident, it said.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said seven apartments in a residential building were damaged. The roof of one building was damaged by drone wreckage, though Sobyanin described the damage as “insignificant”.

He also said 12 people – including three children – had to be evacuated from their damaged flats after the overnight strike.

One district train network is now suspended, and flight restrictions were put in place at Moscow’s airports after the attack.

In a post on social media, Governor Vorobyev published pictures purportedly showing one of the damaged apartments, and burnt vehicles in what looked like a car park in the Moscow region.

The attack comes just hours ahead of a crunch meeting between representatives from the US and Ukraine in Saudi Arabia, focused on ending the war between Russia and Ukraine.

The talks in Jeddah between Ukrainian delegates and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will be the first official meeting since last month’s fiery exchange at the white house between Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and his US counterpart Donald Trump.

Rubio suggested on Monday that, as part of an agreement to stop the war, Ukraine may have to relinquish territory to Russia, adding that both sides needed to understand that “there’s no military solution to this situation”.

Following the strikes, flight restrictions were imposed in Moscow’s four major airports – Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, Vnukovo and Zhukovsky – as well as airports in the Yaroslavl and Nizhny Novgorod regions. These are major transport hubs used by millions of passengers every year.

Flights have since resumed at Sheremetyevo Airport, Russian media reports, citing the aviation regulator.

Russia’s defence ministry later said that, overall, 337 Ukrainian drones were either intercepted or destroyed overnight in the Moscow and nine other Russian regions, including Kursk.

Ukraine has not publicly commented on the attack.

Overnight, Ukrainian officials reported Russian drone attacks on the capital Kyiv and several other regions.

Ukraine’s air force said it had shot down 79 of 126 drones launched by Russia, as well as an Iskander-M ballistic missile.

It added that another 35 drones likely failed to reach their targets due to electronic warfare countermeasures, though it is unclear whether the other 12 hit their targets.

It was not immediately clear whether there were any casualties.

[BBC]